Carnival passengers evacuated due to engine room fire
Passengers on Carnival Cruise’s Liberty had to be evacuated to a hotel when a fire broke out in the engine room as the ship was docked in St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
The ship, which had just embarked on a seven-day cruise, is being held in St Thomas while experts investigate the cause of the blaze.
Carnival said in a statement that there were no injuries to the 3,346 passengers and 1,150 crew during yesterday’s incident.
Coast guards responded to the fire, which broke out in the engine room late yesterday morning, however the ship’s suppression system extinguished the blaze.
Liberty had left Puerto Rico on Sunday for a seven-day Caribbean cruise. The passengers were taken to a hotel in St Thomas and stayed in the lobby until around 20:00 when the Coast Guard gave permission for them to re-board the ship.
A team of experts is evaluating the engine room, and Carnival said their assessment should be finished today but it has not said when the ship will be able to leave St Thomas.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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